This week, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum made a strong push for measures that would raise public awareness of the health risks of locally caught fish.
On Monday, the New York Daily News reported that, at piers
where fishermen catch and consume fish from polluted waters, there are no
visible warning signs or sources of accurate information. It was also reported
that the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) hadn’t tested fish,
other than striped bass, in a decade because of the agency’s workload. 
Alarmed by these findings, Gotbaum announced plans to introduce a bill that would require the city to post warning of the various health dangers related to fish from local waters; and may require the city to test fish for health related risks if the state fails to do so.
After brushing off the topic for days, the Bloomberg administration finally announced that it would 250 new signs 'warning of the dangers of locally caught fish.' In response, Gotbaum said: "This is great, but we need something on the books to ensure this is really happening, and that the bill goes further to make sure signs are posted in languages other than English--like Spanish and Chinese. My bill also calls for testing and a public education campaign."
(Photo credit: NY Daily News)
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